The boxer left the ring that evening for the last time. The crowds were gone. The cheers were silent as he had just vanquished his last opponent just a few hours earlier. Now, alone with his thoughts, he walked toward the exit of that arena. At the last row before the exit, he sat down in a moment of reflection.

He had fought some tough opponents in his day. Rarely, did he have any easy fights. He had won many rounds in his career. He lost a few rounds as well. Each round had made him a better fighter. He thought deeply; he could say with integrity and without impunity, “I fought a good fight.”

Paul, the great man of God, could easily be the boxer in this illustration as he wrote in this last epistle. “I fought a good fight.” It wasn’t the wins and losses that mattered to Paul. It was, did if he had fought well. The reader of the New Testament knows Paul did fight well.

There are many who weary with the fight. Others will quit because of a few bruises. Yet there will be some who fight for only the applause of men and stop when the crowds are silent. What kind of fighter are you?

What about you? This spiritual fight we are in today, are you fighting well? Have you become more about the win than fighting well? Will you end this fight with integrity?